president obama said that in the darkness of the storm, we saw the brightness of the american people. those are good words to ends our coverage on tonight. we'll, of course, be on the streets tomorrow, for all day long covering the aftermath of this storm as we will for the next several days, that does it for this edition of "360." thank you for watching. "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. >> thank you, anderson. it's 11:00 on the east coast and we're live tonight. "outfront" stories of incredible

devastation in sandy's aftermath. here in new york city, a truly heartbreaking scene. a fierce and violent fire wiped out rows and rows of homes. the threat that remains. people trapped in their homes, waiting and hoping someone will come. and right now that crane dangling over the manhattan skyline, threatening to crash down. the other side of the storm. a blizzard. we take you where an incredible amount of snow is causing huge problems tonight. let's go "outfront." i'm erin burnett. i want to welcome our viewers around the world tonight. "outfront" tonight, the wrath of sand ooec sandy. devastation as far as the eye can see and the death toll still rising. 33 people in 8 states have lost their lives. over 6 million people in the

northeast and mid-atlantic are without power. and the estimated cost of the storm is truly stunning. right now this say very preliminary estimate, it will go higher, it could be as high as $20 billion and only for lost business and property damage. to give you a sense of the storm's power, we want to show you this video. that is a tree being uprooted from a backyard on long island, new york. these images are a testament to what officials are calling one of the most powerful storms in history. >> make no mistake about it, this was a devastating storm remember maybe the worst we have ever experienced. >> the level of devastation at the jersey shore is unthinkable. >> unthinkable. and the destruction isn't over yet. we want to show you new pictures in tonight from long beach, new jersey. these boats literally tossed into each other. we saw some of this driving out along the bay. boats tossed into the road in little ferry, new jersey, floods

have turned neighbored into island. rescue to stranded residents happening on live television. happening all day. many people tonight when the rescue had to stop are sitting, hoping, and waiting in queens, new york, a storm-related fire burned through an entire neighborhood, destroying 80 homes and as we drove out to the neighborhood to see the destruction for ourselves, i saw emergency vehicles everywhere, and at one point on the way to breezy point, queens, we passed a convoy of 19 ambulances, 19. all heading in to help that tight-knit community hit by flooding and then fire. d >> reporter: it really looks like a bomb simply hit this place. the entire area, 80 to 100 homes completely incinerated. nothing left. homes burned down to foundations, cars completely incinerated. this is a land rover, this is a

honda. once that downed powerline or transformer blew and hit a home, it just went from home to home to home. the water was so high and water pressure so low, firefighters simply couldn't combat the blaze who was burning. one man who lives here, he said fighting a fire in a hurricane say lesson in futility. we spoke to one man, paul joyce, walking around and to get a scope of the damage, he was able to pick out different homes, well, my sister lives in this one, her father in law lives in this one. three elderly sisters, live side by side by side. he was able to see what was gone, what was missing. homes there that caught fire. we have others along the bay. those also completely destroyed. some of them have been knocked off foundations.

others are sinking into the sand. there are those where the front have completely sheared off. all of that will have to be rebuilt. we did speak to some folks and they said, you know, it's a community and they will get it done. >> the exterior of the house is destroyed, and not only from the fire melts, but also from the surge. the tidal surge that happened here, the exterior, things are just thrown around and as we walked around, you can see that. it was not just devastation from the fire that's here. it's from the tidal surge. >> it's so devastating to be here to see it. it's like a war zone to us. >> reporter: now, there are a couple of people who live here year round. there was one firefighter who actually helped. he said, those, it sounds like he rescued 14 people who were here and had to get out. he was able to bring them to safer ground. he said when the wave hit, he

thought to himself, he would put on his life vets, float to higher ground, and he heard people crying for help, he was able to bring them to higher ground as well. erin. >> thank you, to deb. heart warming story there. in hoboken, thousands could be trapped in their homes. floodwaters have not yet receded. the national guard has moved in. you can see some of the flooding in this ireport video you can see it starts at the beginning of street and some parts where it's more submerged than that. in this picture, sent to us by new jersey senator bob menendez, just to show you how the streets are there. "outfront" tonight our own gary tuchman in hoboken. the scene behind you, that water doesn't seem to have receded at all. how bad is it? >> it's really bad, erin. hoboken, right across the river from new york city. not a small town.

50,000 people live here. almost all of them in the dark. 50% in the dark and under four to five feet of water. worst yet, the mayor of hoboken says behind me, thousands of people still in houses and apartments, they can't gelt out, not because of the water, but it is believed there are live electrical wires in the water. some people are being rescued in emergency cases with a front loader. not a boat. a front loader going through the watery streets. i went for a ride in the front loader with the mayor of hoboken to get a look at what's going on. the first thing, we noticed how much it felt like katrina to us there are differences, there are no casualties here, but it felt like new orleans going down the watery streets and looking in the window, seeing men, women, and children waving at us. most of them were smiling. the reason they are smiling, the

water is receding. it will continue to recede and perhaps as early as tomorrow, they will be able to start walking out of their houses. not guaranteed just yet. we saw scores of people waving at us, waiting to get out of their home. we saw a case of some people trying to leave. seemed confused. two people driving vehicles through four feet of water. they got stuck, then started pushing their cars. a police officer with us on the front loader got out, took the woman, put the woman on her shoulder, brought her to the shovel we were sitting in. the mayor and i helped pull the woman in that's the situation. incredible. right behind me, people in the dark and the cold waiting to be able to come out of their homes safely. >> it's amazing as you tell it. gary, are some of the people stuck in their homes, and this horrible situation, do they know this could have happened? were they given evacuation notices or not? >> what's interesting about this town there, is a portion of this

town right behind me that does flood when there are storms, but nothing like this people are used to it. they were told to evacuate. most of them stayed. most of them had food and water, just in case it was bad and as it turns out, it was very bad. >> gary tuchman, thank you very much. reporting from hoboken there. pretty hard to imagine scene for those families tonight. to the north, the coast guard busy all day rescuing people trapped by floodwaters. maggie, what did you see? >> that's right, erin. we saw a community in shock basically and underwater. they sometimes get some very low-level flooding, but not expecting anything like this. as we walked around, the water waist deep, and at low tide, cars floating in the middle of the road. we met up with a family that has their own military vehicle they

refurbished. heard about it on the news. came down, boy, were they needed. they were working with the national guard. we rode along with them. you cannot get there, in boats. only the very large trucks can get there. elderly people, got stuck in their homes, did not expect anything like this. all the years they live there. one man had a pacemaker, his wife is very concerned as they lifted him in, they were very scared, very shaken up, still had their humor about them. this is what we saw over and over again. neighbors helping out. one family, ten people in a house, and they told us to move on. come back and get them the next round. they wanted to make sure their elderly neighbors were out. this is a tight-knit community. there wasn't a lot of communication are. when we were walking around, what's happening? are we getting power back tomorrow? no, you need to get in these vehicles and get out. they didn't have any cell phones, no power, weren't getting signals, so they were

literally in the dark, so they were -- getting together their things to try and flag down the vehicles to come get them. one man had a 1-month-old baby he was very concerned about. the only thing that helped is the neighbors looking out for each other. directing emss where to go, what to get. >> how many people do you get a feeling are still there, still trapped? that rescuers can't get to or may not be aware, because of the communication issues you have talked with to? >> they were doing this in the middle of night. they have been doing this all day long, thousands of people, truck after military truck came through with these people, and it's not -- they are not big towns, but when you can only fit so many people in a truck, it takes a while to ferry them out. we talked to a couple who said they are going to stay again, we'll see what happens tomorrow. they did not have water in their house, had enough supplies,

concentrating on getting young and elderly out. they'll go back for them again tomorrow. rescue traces suspended today. it will be days before they have power. tomorrow, only a few people there, probably only in the hundreds, but hard to say, erin. >> thank you very much for your reporting there. and for those people who are trapped, we hope that ordeal ends very, very soon. still "outfront" crumpled metal dangling above the city, stopped traffic and forced evacuations. and sandy and the presidential election. who benefits?

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our second story outfront, sandy devastates staten island. that borough has seen some of the worst damage in new york. six people killed there. two residents died in the cottonville section when two homes completely ripped from their foundations. shelters and hospitals lost power at the height of the storm. michael grim, part of his district in staten island. on the phone from the brooklyn part of that district tonight. good to talk to you, congressman, certainly not under these circumstances, though. obviously, i know have you been on the ground much of the day visiting your district, talking to residents. how are things? >> people are devastated. obviously, we've had significant loss of life, which, you know,

devastates a community. and, of course, the damage is much greater than anyone anticipated. it really is a surreal scene to see very large boats in the middle of your block, in front of your house, cars, displaced and on people's lawns that came in with the waves and homes literally being ripped right out from the foundation. there is nothing. they look like -- they look like lots with debris all over them. again, something would you expect in a movie scene. >> one of the things that shocked us is when a hospital lost power and had to evacuate patients. the richmond medical center, i know you were there. there were questions about power. they have been running ognjen rater for nearly a day. are they going to be already? >> yes, richmond university

medical center. con ed has been unbelievable. wonderful, wonderful people working nonstop, done everything they can to get richmond university back online. i believe it's at least 3/4 of the hospital is back on con edison power, we're still working for i think staten island university across the street, where they do all of the dialysis, waiting to get that back online. that's extremely important. a lot of dialysis patients and in all, four different dialysis centers, there will be a lot of patients that need to have dialysis tonight and tomorrow and that will be pretty much mandatory medically, not something they can elect to wait another day or two, a lot of them waiting two or three days already. >> in terms of shelters, shelter out where you were has already lost power. is it possible things could get worse than they are? there are still people missing

and still people without water and shelters without power. what is the risk from here? >> no question. some people are just unaccounted for and that means they could be at a shelter somewhere and their family is still looking for them. we're looking at that. midland beach, one of the areas hit the hardest, and as of several hours ago, still doing rescues from midland beach. curtis high school, just at curtis, they do need food, we're trying to get them an election television to help hook up their generator, because they are in the dark, working off flashlights. picked up food. delivering that to them with about a half an hour, they'll are have some hot food. i'm working the phone, biggest problem? communication. it's one of the reasons i'm in brooklyn right now. the cell phone towers, some of them must have went down, we're having trouble getting people on cell phones and the home foam is not on without power.

and we're having big communication issues. >> thank you for taking the time. and i know that experience going out to breezy point, cell phone in and out and intermittent and what you can imagine, the life on city streets when no power, impossible for traffic to move, and traffic becomes snarled and making difficult for emergency responders to get to neighborhoods in dire need. "outfront" next, the subway become as a swamp, and parts of the storm blanket areas with snow. things are beginning to get rolling. and regions is here to help. making it easier with the expertise and service to keep those wheels turning. from business loans to cash management, we want to be your partner moving forward. so switch to regions. and let's get going. together.

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our third story outfront, sandy also spawning a blizzard. high winds offer the storm have the potential to blanket parts of west virginia with as much as three feet of snow. flood and blizzard warnings also in effect. martin savidge in west virginia. these scenes hard to imagine,

not just part of a hurricane, but that much snow at one time. how much more is expected? >> reporter: you know, a very good question, erin. you take a look as we walk. heavy stuff. i'm walking on top of snow. probably a good two feet or snow, how much snow, we don't really know? they are forecasting in some areas, two feet, maybe three feet. another nine inches here perhaps. they have extended blizzard warnings for this area, they were to expire at 6:00, now until 6:00 tomorrow evening. snow continuing to come in, wind continuing to blow, snowdrifts continue to build. you can see the tree behind me, it's coated. imagine all of the trees absolutely packed and sloweded down with the snow. heavy wet snow, trees coming down, power lines coming down and that's causing the circumstance to be so dire as we head into the nighttime hours in

kingwood, they turned the lights back on. but 250,000 without electricity in the state. so far, only one fatality. good news. they talk about opening the ski resorts, only bright spot i think. >> once things are better that could have an economic boost. martin, have they accounted for everybody? they weren't expecting anything like this. just like you saw with floodwater, you see with snow. a lot of people haven't been accounted for yet. >> well, and that's one of the reasons, the national guard has been called out in certain areas, to assist local law enforcement. going going door to door, and brought out heavy equipment for the removal of snow. you need earth moving equipment. and so far, they are hoping people are staying put. as far as trying to account for everybody, they don't have anybody known to be missing or have rescue operations under way it will get worse tonight before

it will get better. >> martin savidge, thank you for reporting. up next, a 250,000-pound crane, still tonight dangling 90 stories above midtown manhattan. the question is, can it be brought down safely? we have someone who knows that answer. and floating cars and flooded subways have brought a large part of new york city to a standstill. one of the greatest subway systems in the world and relied upon by millions to make the city function. it's shut down. i am probably going to the gas station about once a month. last time i was at a gas station was about...i would say... two months ago. i very rarely put gas in my chevy volt. i go to the gas station such a small amount that i forget how to put gas in my car. [ male announcer ] and it's not just these owners giving the volt high praise. volt received the j.d. power and associates appeal award two years in a row. ♪

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welcome back to the second halfful "outfront." we start the second half with stories we are focusing on. we start with the stock market, closed today due to sandy, but it didn't stop ford from coming out with quarterly numbers. the company earned $1.6 billion

in the quarter and the bright spot? north america. pretty increasdibles an as a pi good news. north american was the best as they started breaking it out as a region in 2000. good news for recovery in the u.s., but not in europe. europe could lose 1.5 billion on that continent this year. and europeans are considering sending troops into mali. they would provide training to mali's army but wouldn't actually fight this on the heels of secretary of state hillary clinton's visit to algeria. she is trying to get support for believing al qaeda-linked rebels which have taken over the northern part of the country. u.s. military has imaged to trim its budget a little bit. the budget for intelligence programs in 2012, $50.9 billion.

it's the first time the intelligence budget has fall know since the attacks of 2001. the 2013 budget is expected to have a drop of 2.3%. and nasa announced that curiosity finished its initial examination of martian soil, and it's similar to volcanic soil found in hawaii. the instrument beamed x-rays of the soil in a process very similar to that that geologists use right here in the u.s. what redoing to get our top credit rating back? the kay schiller eler in decksd that home prices found. a 250,000-pound crane

dangling above midtown manhattan and threatening to wreak further havoc on a city already under siege. this is the actual moment. i want to show it to you again when the crane broke loose yesterday. you can see it upright and then just literally bent overbackward, slams into the side of the apartment building that it sits alongside. that's an ultra luxury apartment building in the center of manhattan. 57th street in the center of the island. and tallest residential building under construction in the city. the crane stay thad way for the rest of the day and the night. swaying back and forth, just dangling there. prompting police to evacuate the surrounding buildings, including hotels, offices, and apartments it hasn't stopped crowds from getting a look. alina cho out front on this story. >> reporter: good evening, the

$64,000 question is when will that be fixed? tonight, mayor michael bloomberg did offer a glimmer of hope. he did say that that crane dangling 1,000 feet above the ground behind me, they are hoping they will be able to secure it by tomorrow. now, the plan according to the mayor, somehow try to get a hold of that boom and either tie it or cable it to the building. the problem is, erin, according to one crane expert we spoke to today, is that he believes that this crane may actually be more damaged than we think. meaning that he believes that what he calls the climbing mechanism, may be damaged, and that's the way to get up to the top. if that is the case, his estimation, listen to this. they will actually have to build a second crane in order to fix the one that is damaged. of course, everyone is hoping that that won't have to happen, especially the hundreds of residents and hotel guest who's

were evacuated from the seven-block zone. many of them, all of them, in fact, displaced tonight and erin, in fact, i did receive a text message from one of those residents, matt mazer, displaced a couple of blocks away at a private new york club with his family. he got word he doesn't believe he will be able to get back to his apartment until thursday. that family incredibly concerned, especially since they have a 12-year-old daughter who has a pet parrot inside their apartment and they are really concerned that parrot might not survive. >> al ainalina, so people many say how can this happen and who is to blame? this isn't the first time that this particular crane has had problems. obviously falling in 60 to 80 or even more mile ab hour winds is a different thing. this crane has had problems. >> that's absolutely right. that's what is so startling to us when we started looking into

this story this morning. consider, you mentioned this already. keep in mind, we're talking about a trophy building. when completed, the tallest building in new york city, 90 floors. top floor apartments going for $90 million. $90 million. cnn learned according to the new york city buildings department, there were actually at least two stop work orders issued on this construction site. one for leaking hydraulic fluid. the other for detective wire rope and an improper runway platform. we should mention, those stop work orders were fully rescinded, but in each case it took about a week for that to happen. >> thank you very much for reporting there on the crane story. frank, the president of maximum crane works, the largest crane company in north america "outfront" tonight. thank you for taking the time. i appreciate it. given what alana is reporting,

when do you think this will be resolved. they might have to bring a second crane up to get this down. when do you think will be resol resolved. >> hi, erin. thank you for having me. i think the issues will be handled well from the local contractor. all of the issues you just mentioned from a mechanical standpoint have no bearing on this incident. purely an act of god. wind speeds in the 60 mile an hour range, probably in excess of 100 up here with the updraft. when you watch the video the video clearly shows it goes over backward. these guys are experts in what they do, and as soon as they can get access to the machine, when the weather calms down a bit, they will have it secured within a few days i believe. >> what i don't understand, everyone knew the storm was coming, they didn't know for sure it would hit new york, right, and i know it takes days, to disassemble a crane like

this. if you knew a storm might we coming, shouldn't they have taken it down? getting to the question of liability, have you entire blocks, people not being able to go to their homes, stores that can't go open, traffic diversion. this crane is causing a lot of problems. >> obviously the storm coming, they did know about it, and what there what i understand, the city was going through precautions to ensure all cranes were secured by the manufacturer's specifications. to take the crane down from 1,100 feet in the air would be similar to taking the 90th floor of off the building, not something you can do each with a week's notice. the bigger question as an industry, what else can we do to prevent this, even with the high winds? the crane is built to withstand 90-mile-an-hour winds i believe. when we work in coastal areas at times, we do design the lift to be made and withstand up to 140

mile an hour gusts, that may be something that the city take as a look at down the road. >> let's say it's dangling there and it falls. what happens? >> the good news, nobody is hurt and it hasn't fallen. the bad news, it's still dangling if we take that and say it's safe at this point where it hasn't fallen, that doesn't mean it's secure, but it did fall over backward and withstood the rest of the storm. that's the positive news. now we have to hope that the winds die down and crews can get up to dismantle it at a safe point. we have only seen minor property damage on the crane, and if everything goes as planned, they can get it down without further property damage or injuries. the new york city subway ground to a halt at 7:00 on sunday, but they haven't run since. strandi ining 5 million people.

and starbucks still not open. lots of restaurants not open because people can't get to work. mayor michael bloomberg said it will be four or five days before service resumes again. downtown manhattan saw some of the worst flooding, including this parking garage where cars literally floating in the water. that's an amazing scene. not one you expect to see in man at hat an. david mattingingly near that parking garage in lower manhattan. you today have been evaluating subways, going in, going out. what do you see? >> reporter: well, what we're seeing is a lot like what you saw in that parking deck. you look around outside, things look pretty dry. cars moving around, almost back to you have to dry everything

out. this is saltwater. untold damage being done to the equipment that's been unundulated down there. at this point, no actual date set on when they think that might be repaired, and everything back up and running wait it was before the storm. but there are millions of people who depend on the system and there aren't a lot of good options until the subway gets back up and running. mayor bloomberg talking about how buss will start running tonight and tomorrow for tomorrow's rush hour, but they will be on a limited schedule. they can't carry everybody, and also about 4,000 taxis still in the city. they hope that number will go up. taxis have been allowed to carry more than one fare at a time. all of the car pooling in the world is not going to take care of the millions of people, again, that depend on subways and these stations like the one behind me, that is dark tonight, everyone wondering when they will be able to get back on the trains. >> david, thank you very much.

something that could be the most important thing, everyone, to determine when new york city, the financial capital of the world is able to be that again. up next, we did get a new cnn poll today, and it shows a very tight race. the question, now when you see two men on the screen, could sandy tip it one way or the other? plus a resident of a barrier island in new jersey, one of the very last to evacuate. parse of his neighborhood now completely underwater. when we got married. i had three kids. and she became the full time mother of three. it was soccer, and ballet, and cheerleading, and baseball.

those years were crazy. so, as we go into this next phase, you know, a big part of it for us is that there isn't anything on the schedule. why they're always there to talk. i love you, james. don't you love me? i'm a robot. i know. i know you're a robot! but there's more in you than just circuits and wires! uhhh. (cries) a machine can't give you what a person can. that's why ally has knowledgeable people there for you, night and day. ally bank. your money needs an ally.

at meineke i have options... like oil changes starting at $19.95. my money. my choice. my meineke. our fifth story outfront. you may be forgiven if you didn't know there was a new poll of polls, and it shows a dead heat. a national poll and it may come down to state by state. but today, a key romney surrogate. one of the first to come out and endorse him, way before everyone else did. >> the president has been all over this and deserves great

credit. yesterday, i was on the phone with him personally three times. gave me his number at the white house, told me to call him if i needed anything and he absolutely means it, it's been very good working with the president and his administration, coordinating us with great. it's been wonderful. >> so could chris christie's kind words, it's been wonderful, do anything to tip the balance in a tight race? a senior spokesman for hillary clint clinton's presidential campaign. and we have a write forever the national review and a senior political comist at "newsweek"/the daily beast. thank you to all of you. let me start with you, john. some of the latest polls in the poll of polls, we take the major ones and take the average. that's why there is no margin of error. pew research, 47/47. american research group, 48-48 and all continue along that wane. could a small thing like chris

christie coming out with a very serious and significant endorsement of the president's handling of the storm tip the race? >> listen, erin, a race like this this tight, everything matters. this is a game of inches, a war after television. seeing this in ohio, folks focused heavily on the ground game. highly respected governor like chris christie, being honest, not doing partisan talking points, we're working effectively with the president, that reminds people that president obama is the commander in chief. every little thing matters and chris christie speaking honestly probably helped the president a little bit. >> tomorrow, he will tour the destroyed zones with the governor. he did last year during the storm as well. not as if this is a new thing to do. this is what presidents often do. the timing could be helpful for him. but do you think there is anything political in his choice to do it? >> no, i don't think it's

anything political. i think it's completely presidential. what he should be doing in a time of a national crisis like this hurricane, and, you know, you hear chris christie, mayors, governors, from other affected states, all singing off the same song sheet, the president is doing what he needs to do. i think it speaks a lot to his commander in chiefness, so to speak and it also does one really important thing politically, it takes mitt romney out of conversation. here we are, one week out, and mitt romney is -- is in this very difficult position, trying to figure out how he stays relevant in the 24-hour news cycle without going too far and that's a very tricky place for him to be in. >> ryan, it's a very difficult place for him to be in. you have to applaud someone like chris christie who will come out and the man says what he thinks. he said what he thought at an important moment. >> chris christie, running for

re-election in 2013, and new jersey is a state with a lot more democrats than republicans, and it's important he project he's a bipartisan compromiser and willing to work with a democratic president and not going to shoot the guy down in something as big of a crisis as this. chris christie, very shrewd, telling the truth and he needs to project he's more than a partisan figure. >> that's an interesting point. let me ask you this, though. during the gop primary debate, fema had come up. front and center and appearing to do fine and getting fine reviews, today, is he going to get rid of fema today he avoided that. here it is. >> governor, would you eliminate fema if you were president? >> i'm sorry, let me make it clear. he said states should be responsible for disaster relief. >> to me, this is very tricky,

he did not say there should not be a fema. he was asked about whether -- he suggested states and the private sector should generally be taking on more responsibility from the federal government. his campaign explicitly said on monday, he wouldn't abolish fema. fema takes care of a lot of disasters well below the level of hurricane sandy, including local floods, what have you. if fema could focus on big-ticket events like this one, it's possible it would be able to do its job better and state responsibility for lower level minor disasters that could be handled exclusively by states, that's a legitimate question. mitt romney wouldn't want to abolish fema, and he made that explicitly clear. >> a model interesting for health care. let me ask you this, and i want john to weigh in as well. a lot of key states have been hit by this storm, and also states that aren't hit, early voting going on, and the news cycle has changed somewhat. so when you look at who this may help, the storm, in terms of

early voting what is your verdict? >> well, you look at a state like virginia, where several key jurisdictions today announced they would be extending hours for early ab s absentee voting, that's a good thing. there are many who won't have the chance as a result of the storm to get in early. this is the million dollar question. john said earlier, we're in the game of inches and the early vote, critically important as the number of undecides dwindle this is where the obama -- the obama ground game is really going to prove its mettle, not only by having secured all the votes they put in the bank up until this point, but how they now transition their ground game to deal with this in the affected swing states. >> thank you to all three of you. we appreciate your time. up next, a resident of new jersey's barrier island who got out just in time. he's next. ...mom's smartphone...

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sandy hit new jersey hard. new jersey was in the center of the storm, no matter how you look at it, and barrier island of seaside heights were overrun during the surge.

our next guest witnessed it first hand. he was one of the last to evacuate. toms river, he joins us now. and it's flooded there. keith, tell me how evacuations are doing? >> they seem to be going pretty well. the problem, the main highway that brings you over the bridge to seaside heights is flooded. there are boats in the middle of the bridge, so very difficult to get over there. >> a bridge i go over many times. let me ask you your sense now. everything joef run with water? anything survived? houses along the beach are completely gone, ripped off the foundation. what about beyond that? >> right now, some houses completely destroyed down into the water, when i was over there, i was over with the chief of police from seaside heights, tommy boyd, until 4:00 p.m. yesterday, watching the hurricane come in, taking out fronttown pier. we came over about 4:00, one of the last ones to make it across

the bridge, at that point, the water just kept coming up with high tide last night. barnagat bay, and seaside heights, pushed into toms river. so far, people evacuated out of second floor windows. >> oh, my goodness. people still stranded in seaside heights. some made sure they evacuated earlier and were out. but as in so many places, people tried to wait it out. >> you can see in the footage i put up, all of the ambulances lined up, national guard going in. when i left yesterday about 4:00 p.m., the chief was 950% evacuated. i do know there were a few people. a friend of mine did stay over there, and i haven't heard from him yet today. >> on the bay side, lower than the ocean side, any worse? >> oh, yes. on the bay side where live in toms river in a section called silverton. one street away from me, house